Tag Archives: drugged driving

Colorado NORML On June 12th, Colorado NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws), sent a letter to the Governor, Speaker of House Ferrandino, Senate President Morse and Colorado Attorney General asking the Legislature reconsider its decision to impose an arbitrary DUID-marijuana standard of 5 ng/ml in light of the revelations of the drastic deficiencies in the lab training, qualification, accuracy, standard operating procedures, reporting, and alleged bias of employees of the state toxicology laboratory at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE). Next, NORML is ... Read More »

Third and subsequent DWIs became felonies in Virginia in 1999. Since that time, Virginia has had a 10 year lookback period for using previous DUIs to enhance punishments. Currently, Virginia Code § 18.2-270 has the following DWIs and minimum mandatory punishments: 3 DWIs committed within a 10 year period 90 days 3 DWIs committed within a 5 year period 6 months 4 (or more) DWIs within a 10 year period 1 year These portions of the law remain the same. ... Read More »

A local Florida station reports that Florida changed its rules to allow shorter yellow light times at intersections. The result: millions of dollars in additional revenues in red light camera fines. Did Florida cities and counties inform their citizens that “the times were a’changing?” Of course not! Why? Millions of dollars from red light camera fines! As it turns out, the Florida Department of Transportation reduced the yellow light time below federal recommendations. Why? Research apparently indicated that if you ... Read More »

I originally intended to blog about the April 2013 decision of the United States Supreme Court in Missouri v. McNeely. (I’ll do that in a future blog.) But, while doing research, I was once again shocked at the number of newspaper articles and attorneys that don’t understand “implied consent.” An oft repeated refrain goes something like this: “It’s called the implied consent law and everyone signs the form when they get their driver’s license.” One article goes on to state ... Read More »

Recently in this blog, we’ve reported on the efforts Colorado lawmakers have made to establish a THC-blood limit for drivers in the Rocky Mountain State. At the end of April, a Senate committee rejected a bill proposing these changes to Colorado DUI law, however the measure quickly regained momentum. On Tuesday, May 7, the Senate voted 24-11 in favor of House Bill 1325, which states that motorists who have 5 nanograms of active THC in their blood are too stoned to drive ... Read More »

As we’ve been reporting on this blog for some time, a proposed bill has been circulating in the Colorado legislature that aimed to establish a legal limit on the nanograms of THC per 100 milliliters of blood that state drivers could register in blood tests given by law enforcement officials. The bill, formally known as House Bill 13-1114, would have made 5 nanograms of THC per 100 milliliters marijuana’s equivalent of the 0.08 blood alcohol content limit for drivers who are ... Read More »

On this blog, we’ve discussed a number of recent developments as they relate to marijuana and DUI law in Colorado, covering the ongoing legislative debate and reviewing how past research is shaping the implementation of future laws. However, the legal uncertainty surrounding legal marijuana in the Rocky Mountain State is now having an impact on those who come to the state for its many tourist attractions, reports say. According to a recent article published by USA Today, out-of-state drivers are ... Read More »

The dangers posed by impaired drivers are widely recognized. Drunk and drugged driving remains a significant problem and should not ignored. Nevertheless, the lesser-known danger of distracted driving must be addressed as well. Despite evidence that instances of injuries and death due to distracted driving have increased, public awareness and policy lag far behind awareness and policy for drunk driving. In 2009, 5,400 people died and another 448,000 were injured because of distracted drivers.[1] Of the 5,400 deaths, 995 were ... Read More »

On Friday, Judge Lisa Sutton in Washington rejected a request by a user of medical marijuana to block Washington state from implementing tougher rules on “stoned driving.” After approving a measure for legalizing the use of recreational marijuana in November, from this Thursday, Washington became the first U.S. state to not only legalize marijuana recreational use, but also bring into effect new checks and balances. The new rules, especially those related with driving under the influence of marijuana has a ... Read More »

To Sleep or Not to Sleep? The DUI Ambien Defense By: David Katz, Esquire & Andrew Nickolaou, J.D. Even non-drinkers could be in danger of being charged with DUI in Florida. If you are like the thousands of others who take prescription sleep medication like Ambien every year, you run the risk of a growing phenomenon of “sleep-driving” which could instantly land you in jail charged with drug related DUI and having no recollection of how you got ... Read More »